The closure of coal mines does not terminate their impact on the environment. Gas emissions into the atmosphere are the one of the problems. The closed ''Gliwice II'' shaft has been selected for a series of measurements to assess greenhouse gas emissions from the closed mine; however, only CO 2 emission has been detected. The article compromises obtained knowledge about the rate of emissions and the influence of meteorological parameters on this phenomenon-baric tendency, difference in dry-bulb temperature between flowing gas and the atmosphere (buoyancy effect) and wind speed. In the course of the conducted research, it was detected that the highest amount of carbon dioxide emission was V CO 2 = 0.023 m 3 /s (which is 82.8 m 3 /h) when baric tendency of pressure drop was 0.57 hPa/h, and the difference between dry-bulb temperatures gas and atmosphere was ?4.4°C (the highest difference in the obtained results). The rate of CO 2 emissions varied from 12.7 to 162.3 kg CO 2 =h. Carbon dioxide was detected up to 43 m from the shaft. The results can be considered as a general conclusion about gas behavior when it flows from the underground sites to the surface in natural conditions and about gas concentrations near a point of emission, especially in the case of former mines. However, it may also be useful for other applications, e.g., the leakages from installations of underground coal gasification, or gas drainage.

Reversal ventilation is one of prevention methods against fire hazard in underground mines, but it is not recommended for the mines where methane is present. The authors introduce the new method of reversal and by conducting numerical simulations they prove that it allows to keep methane at the acceptable level during miners escape. However, it requires connection between the subnetworks of the main ventilation fans. It was also shown, that by using the method some escape routes will be shortened. It is possible to apply this method in the mines where the fans and stoppings are fully controlled across the full range of their operating parameters. The findings are important for underground mines, as well as for surface facilities where air control or smoke control is managed by two or more fans.

The results of research into the application of selected thermal indices of men's work and climate indices in a two stage assessment of climatic work conditions in underground mines have been presented in this article. The difference between these two kinds of indices was pointed out during the project entitled "The recruiting requirements for miners working in hot underground mine environments". The project was coordinated by The Institute of Mining Technologies at Silesian University of Technology. It was a part of a Polish strategic project: "Improvement of safety in mines" being financed by the National Centre of Research and Development.Climate indices are based only on physical parameters of air and their measurements. Thermal indices include additional factors which are strictly connected with work, e.g. thermal resistance of clothing, kind of work etc.Special emphasis has been put on the following indices -substitute Silesian temperature (TS) which is considered as the climatic index, and the thermal discomfort index (δ) which belongs to the thermal indices group.The possibility of the two stage application of these indices has been taken into consideration (preliminary and detailed estimation). Based on the examples it was proved that by the application of thermal hazard (detailed estimation) it is possible to avoid the use of additional technical solutions which would be necessary to reduce thermal hazard in particular work places according to the climate index. The threshold limit value for TS has been set, based on these results. It was shown that below TS = 24°C it is not necessary to perform detailed estimation.Keywords: climate index, thermal index, thermal hazard, climatic safety of a human W artykule przedstawiono wyniki badań nad stosowaniem wybranych wskaźników cieplnych pracy człowieka i wskaźników klimatu w dwustopniowej ocenie klimatycznych warunków pracy w kopalniach podziemnych. Różnicę pomiędzy tymi wskaźnikami wykazano podczas realizacji zadania kierowanego przez Instytut Eksploatacji Złóż Politechniki Śląskiej pt. "Opracowanie zasad zatrudniania pracowników w warunkach zagrożenia klimatycznego w podziemnych zakładach górniczych". Zadanie było częścią projektu strategicznego "Poprawa bezpieczeństwa pracy w kopalniach" finansowanego przez Narodowe Centrum Badań i Rozwoju.Wskaźniki klimatu oparte są jedynie na pomiarach parametrów fizycznych powietrza, natomiast wskaźniki cieplne dodatkowo uwzględniają inne czynniki związane z wykonywaną pracą, np. rodzaj odzieży oraz ciężkość wykonywanej pracy.Podczas realizacji projektu pod szczególną uwagę wzięto dwa wskaźniki, temperaturę śląską (TS), która należy do grupy wskaźników klimatycznych oraz wskaźnik dyskomfortu cieplnego (δ), należącego do wskaźników cieplnych pracy człowieka.Pod dyskusję poddano możliwość dwustopniowego stosowania tych wskaźników (ocena podstawowa i szczegółowa), a także wykazano na przykładach, że za pomocą stosowania wskaźnika cieplnego (jako oceny szczegółowej) można uniknąć wprowadzania dodatkowych środków techniczny...

No abstract

The article presents the history of iron ore mining and production in present-day Poland and takes into account mining and production techniques and the influence of mining on the development of the surrounding areas. Examples of development are presented for the most important iron ore mining centers established since the period of the so-called Roman influences—Lower Silesia in the region of Tarchalice and the Świętokrzyskie region in the area of Góry Świętokrzyskie (Świętokrzyskie Mountains). The oldest traces of underground iron ore mining in Poland date back to the 7th–5th century B.C., and iron production dates back from the 1st century B.C. in the Częstochowa region where economically significant iron ore exploitation started in the 14th century and lasted until the 20th century. Studies showed that the development of iron ore mining in today’s Poland was associated with significant events in the country’s history, for example, with the expansion of a network of fortified castles in Silesia or with the industrial revolution. In each case, the increase in iron production resulted in the development and growth of the surrounding areas.